Lewis Hamilton’s $9 billion deal begins

Lewis Hamilton rolled into Imola wearing a Ferrari crash helmet freshly stamped with the logo of AI-powered answer engine Perplexity.



The decal signalled a lucrative personal sponsorship that the seven-time World Champion secured in the days before the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, choosing an individual tie-up rather than letting the $9 billion tech firm align with an entire team.



Perplexity’s emblem sat just above Hamilton’s trademark #44, dominating the television onboards that followed his climb from 12th to fourth.



Reports suggest the company viewed Hamilton’s global reach as a sharper marketing weapon than any single car’s side-pod, betting that a star who co-chairs the Met Gala and produces Hollywood films will amplify brand recognition far beyond the Formula 1 bubble.







Fourth place sparks optimism inside Ferrari



Hamilton’s drive to P4 marked his best Sunday of the fledgling Ferrari chapter, eclipsing the Bahrain fifth that had been his previous high-water mark.



A lone sprint victory in Shanghai and a third-place sprint in Miami hinted at potential, yet Imola finally knitted qualifying recovery, race pace and strategy into one tidy result.



Radio traffic captured the mood: “Thanks so much, mate. Woo!



“What a great race, guys. Fantastic stops, strategy.



“The car felt great today. I’m so grateful, so proud. Grazie tutti. And the Tifosi, that was for them.



“Let’s keep pushing. If we get that qualifying better and we can race like that, then we’ll be winning.”



Commercial effect already visible



Ferrari clothing partner Puma claims an eight-fold jump in team-merchandise sales since the Briton’s winter arrival, evidence that Hamilton’s fanbase is following him from Silverstone grey to scarlet.



At trackside, the 40-year-old told Spanish broadcaster DAZN: “I saw a lot of red caps [in the crowd] and it’s great to see many of the fans who supported me making this transition even if they loved Mercedes – and some still do.



“They told me: ‘It’s hard to make this change, it’s something new.’”



The scene underlines why Perplexity chose Hamilton: a single athlete can ignite immediate visibility, whereas team deals often sink into a crowded sponsor roster.



Helmet tweak hints at more to come



Ferrari insiders say the design tweak is the first of several commercial activations scheduled for 2025, including digital collaborations that will push Perplexity content to Hamilton’s combined social following of more than 40 million.



On track, attention turns to Monaco, a venue where Hamilton admits qualifying “still needs work” in the SF-25.



Yet if he converts Saturday gains into another top-five race result, the Perplexity partnership will keep splashing across global screens—proof that marketing pay-offs and sporting performance can rise in lock-step.
The post Lewis Hamilton’s $9 billion deal begins appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk .